Legend McGrath makes a flying visit

THE turnout was fantastic for Craig McGrath’s brief return to Drogheda last week and reminiscences were in abundance of the five marvellous years he spent as player/coach at Boyne Rugby Club.

He has of course been prominently involved with the Melbourne Rebels as a coach in the Super 14 since he left Boyne RFC and has now taken up the backs coaching position with Samoa who played England the weekend before last.

McGrath will remain in that position until the next World Cup but will still be a part of the new coaching regime with the Melbourne Rebels.

This was a fleeting visit to Drogheda from his duties with Samoa, but one he was determined to make such is his affinity with Boyne RFC and the players he coached to such unprecedented success.

All at Shamrock Lodge hope he will be back again next year when Samoa play Ireland in the Autumn test series.

He addressed the gathering, saying: ‘My wife Kirsty and I have made some of the most fantastic friends in the Drogheda community, on a personal level as well as rugby, during the five years we spent among you all in your fabulous country.

‘We also have wonderful friends in Italy where I played for a period. However, it was Boyne who gave me my first opportunity to coach rugby and I could not have wished for a better club and bunch of players to start my coaching career.

‘I still keep in contact with the club and the guys who I coached and played with and it will always hold a special place in our family reverie.’